[rayiner]

To add to your point, there’s very little consensus among people on the subcontinent about it. My mom and aunts are borderline monarchists. My dad is a republican, and growing up I heard him complain about the British dividing and conquering by creating tensions between Muslims and Hindus. But even he readily credits the British for developing the region’s laws and institutions.

As to the famines: cyclical famines were common in India: https://www.orissapost.com/this-is-why-indian-kings-used-to-.... The British didn’t cause famine in India, though it’s fair to say they mismanaged the response.